Movies and titles may be received from video on-demand (VOD) content providers with different identifiers. When a movie is received, the metadata associated with the content is being recorded. The metadata may include a title, a list of crew involved with the creation of the content, the release year, etc. An identifier is also provided with the particular content.
Currently, service providers assign the same program that is available from different content providers with different Asset IDs when received. For example if the same title from the same provider, who is offering a title in both HD and SD format, is received two Asset IDs are assigned. If there is a change in the parental ratings, the database receives two Asset IDs for the title. Therefore, the database may contain information that causes confusion or is redundant. For example, a user may receive an episode of Friends on VOD HBO. The same episode may also be provided from ABC. The database will identify the program with the same episode information, the same title, etc. The only difference will be the metadata that identifies each copy of the episode will identify two different providers thereby causing the two episodes to be processed separately.
Users may additionally be searching for content that they have purchased. Such content may be obtained from a DVD that the user purchased or a movie that the user purchased online and downloaded. Consumers expect to be able to access content that they own from anywhere. If On Demand assets are offered on other platforms, then each asset will have different Access IDs so there is no unique way to tie these assets together.
Accordingly, it can be seen that there is a need to assign a single master identifier to all related content assets.